Combined stoker and firedoor



E. A. TURNER COMBINED sToKER AND FIREDOOR Filed Sept. 22, 1951 INVEN TOR.

March 3, 1936,

Patented Mar. 3, 1935 ATi-ENT OFFICE to The Standard Stcker Company, Incorporated, a corporation of Delaware Application September 22, 1931, Serial No. 564,295

20 Claims.

My present invention relates to stokers of the type that introduce fuel into a rebox through the ring opening in the backwall thereof, and has for its principal object the provision in such stokers of a discharge conduit, the roof or hood portion of which is formed as part of a vertically sliding, pressure fluid operated door which also serves as a closure for the firing opening. In carrying out the principal object of this invention, I have provided a new and improved vertically sliding, pressure fluid operated sectional door which may be raised to partially uncover the ring opening whenever it is necessary to supply fuel to the rebox manually, in which arrangement, the lower portion of the sectional door may be raised independently of the main door member to fully uncover the ring opening whenever access to the interior of the flrebox is necessary.

This invention also has for its object the provision of a novel latch arrangement which is especially adaptable for use with vertically sliding iiredoors having a rearwardly flaring portion which serves as a roof or hood for the discharge conduit of a Stoker. This latch arrangement is utilized to prevent such redoor from being blown open due to any pressure within the rebox which may be caused by an explosion therein and is arranged to be released to allow 30 the redoor to open when necessary to do so.

These and other features of this invention are described in the following specification accompanied by the drawing which illustrates but one application of the invention.

On the drawing Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal section through the rearward portion of a locomotive and its boiler showing the invention in position with portions broken away;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary end elevation of the locomotive boiler showing the invention in position;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the door operating mechanism with portions broken away;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a sectional View of a control valve; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary enlarged isometric view of the latching mechanism with a portion thereof broken away and shown in section.

On the drawing, the invention is shown as belng applied to a locomotive- A having the usual lrebox I 0; the grates II,` and the boiler backwall I2 having the conventional hand firing opening I3 therethrough. The locomotive cabv is shown at I4 which is provided with a deck I5 a 3 sufficient distance below the lower marginal edge of the conventional firing opening to permit ease of manual firing.

A Stoker is generally indicated at B and comprises a discharge conduit I6 attached to the 10 backwall I2, arranged to discharge fuel through the lower portion off the firing opening I3 onto a distributing plate I1 which in cooperation, with a pressure head I8J disposed rearwardly thereof distributes fuel to` all parts of the fire. The 15 distributing plate IT is in detachable engagement with the discharge conduit and is arranged to be readily removed from its position in the firing opening.v

The upper portion. ofthe discharge conduit I6 20 is truncated in a substantially horizontal plane as at I9 adjacent the lower marginal edge of the ring ropening and ares outwardly to substantially the width of. the firing opening. A vertically sliding door C closes the firing opening I3' 25 and has its lower portion iiared, rearwardly to serve as a. hoodI or roof for the stoker discharge conduit I6. The door C is slidably mounted in the guideways 2|]v of the frame 2| which is secured to the boiler backwall I2'. A motor cylin- 30 der 22 houses a piston 23' which operates an arm 24 pivoted at.25 and connected to the door as at 26 for opening the door by power means. Pressure fluid is admitted to themotor cylinder by movement .of the treadle 2j'Il which causes the arm 35 28 to raise the valve member 29 in the valve casing 30 of the control valve 55, thereby allowing pressure fluid to flow from the supply lead- 3| into the pressure fluidI lead 32 for operating the piston 23 in the motor cylinder 22.

In order to prevent the vertically sliding door, which is provided'withthe rearwardly ared portion 60, from being opened due to any undue pressures which may occuriny the rebox, I have provided a novel latch device which. normally en- 45 gages the door and whichv is released whenever the door is to be opened. for manual firing or for inspection of the rebox. Formed with the motor cylinder 2,2 is. another`r cylinder 33 which houses theunbalanced piston 34.. TheA piston 34l 50 is normally in; the, position4 shown; in Figure 3, being held in` thisr position by a spring 35. An angular stem 36 of thepiston 3,4k is received by the angular recess 3150i1 they frame. 2I` to prevent rotation. thereof and car-ries a pin 38 which. en- 55' gages the oblique groove 39 of the plate 40, Slidably mounted in the guideway 4I of the frame 2l. and projecting beyond said frame: to form a lip which engages the top of the fredoor C, thereby preventing any undue upward movement of the door.

To open the door, the operator presses the treadle 21 with his foot thereby causing pressure fluid to enter the fluid lead 32 which causes the piston 34 to move to the left until it rests upon the seat 42 of the cap 43. This allows pressure fluid to enter the pressure iiud lead 44 which supplies pressure fluid to the motor cylinder 22 for moving the piston 23 downwardly and hence, opening the door C by means of the arm 24 connected therewith. It will be understood that when the piston 34 is moved to the left, the angular stem 36 also moves in the same direction causing the plate 40 to move transversely of the stem 36, by reason of the pin 38 of the stem 36 engaging the oblique gro-ove 39, releasing the door to permit its upward movement by the piston 23 and its connected arm 24. Upon release of the treadle 21, the valve 29 reseats cutting oi the supply of pressure fluid to the lead 32 and the pressure fluid evacuates the cylinders, causing the door to lower by its own weight to close the firing opening. In descending, the door raises the piston 23 in the motor cylinder 22, the weight of the piston acting to retard the descent of the door. The spring 35 returns the piston 34 and the latch device to the normal position, shown in Fig. 5, as soon as the upper edge of the door C drops below the plate 40.

The latch device may also be released manual- 1y whenever it is necessary vto so operate the door due to lack of pressure fluid or to derangement of the door operating device. For this purpose, a stem 45 of the piston 34 is threaded and extends exteriorly of the cap 43 to receive a wing nut 46. By turning the wing nut 46, the piston 34 and hence, the angular stem 36 are moved to the left, thereby disengaging the plate 40 from the door C. A handle 41 is utilized to manually open the door which may be retained in an opened position by allowing the hook 48 to engage the lower portion thereof.

The vertically sliding door C is of novel construction and comprises a main body member 49 and an auxiliary section 50, hinged to the main body portion as at 5I and depending therefrom to fit snugly within the truncated portion of the Stoker discharge conduit I6. The lower portion of the main body member 49 and the auxiliary section 50, when in normal position with the stoker discharge conduit, are substantially quadrant-like in vertical longitudinal cross section, forming a roof or hood therefor. A hand nut 52 is threaded in the auxiliary section 5U to engage any of the several notches 53 whereby the auxiliary section 50 may be raised to fit over the lower portion of the main body member 49 and be secured in the desired position.

By providing such a sectional door, it will be apparent that the upward movement of the main body member is relatively small, being sufficient te uncover only a portion Aof the firing opening that is necessary to permit manual firing of the locomotive; hence, the space on the boiler backwall immediately above the vertically sliding door which is kept free from appliances such as gauges and valves to allow for the movement of the door, will be materially reduced from that of former practice wherein the vertically sliding door had a A greater vertical movement to fully uncover the tiring opening. From another aspect of the invention, the novel rearwardly flaring sectional redoor C may also be arranged to fully uncover the opening by the pressure fluid means and the auxiliary section 50 may be raised upward and over the main body member 49, thereby permitting the fireman to be able to use the present length .of hooks and rakes when trimming the fire, which would otherwise be inconvenient since the reman would necessarily have to stand rearward of the flaring hood or roof portion of the Stoker discharge conduit.

While I have shown but one embodiment of my invention, various modifications can be made which will be within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a firedoor apparatus, the combination of a vertically sliding door, iiuid pressure operated means for opening said door, a latch device engaging said door, and fluid pressure operated means for disengaging said latch device, said last named means being arranged to coordinate the operation of said door and said latch device.

2. In a redoor apparatus, the combination of a vertically sliding door, fluid pressure operated means for opening said door, a latch device engaging said door, fluid pressure operated means for disengaging said latch device, and means for re-engaging said latch device with said door, said door operating means being controlled by said latch device disengaging means.

3. In a iiredoor apparatus, the combination of a vertically sliding door, fluid pressure operated means for opening said door, said door being arranged to close by its own weight, said means retarding the closing of said door, a latch device engaging said door, fluid pressure'operated means for disengaging said latch device, manually operated means for disengaging said latch device, manually operated means for opening said door and means for retaining said door in open posiI tion.

4. In combination with a iirebox having a backwall provided with a firedoor opening therethrough, a stoker discharge conduit attached to said backwall, said discharge conduit terminating in an open mouth portion adjacent the lower marginal edge of said opening, a vertically sliding door for said opening, said door forming a roof or hood for said discharge conduit mouth portion, a fluid pressure operated motor for opening said door, means for supplying pressure fluid for operating said motor, a latch device engaging said door, and fluid pressure means for releasing said latch device, said last named means being actuated by said pressure fluid supplying means and arranged to control the flow of pressure fluid to said motor.

5. In combination with a rebox having a backwall provided with a flredoor opening therethrough, a stoker discharge conduit attached to said backwall, said discharge conduit terminating in an open mouth portion adjacent the lower marginal edge of said opening, a door for said opening, said door forming a roof or hood for said discharge conduit mouth portion, fluid pressure operated means for opening said door, a latch engaging said door, and means for disengaging said latch, said means comprising a. cylinder, a piston in said cylinder connected to said latch, and means for supplying pressure fluid to said cylinder.

6. In combination with a flrebox having a backwall provided with a iiredoor opening therethrough, a Stoker discharge conduit attached to said backwall, said discharge conduit at its upper portion being truncated in a substantially horizontal plane adjacent the lower marginal edge of said opening to form an open mouth portion communicating therewith, a door for said opening, the lower portion of said door being curved upwardly and forwardly from said dis'- charge conduit mouth portion to form a roof or hood thereof, the lower marginal edge of said door fitting snugly within the truncated portion of the stoker discharge conduit, a fluid pressure operated motor for opening said door, a latch device engaging said door, fluid pressure operated means for releasing said latch and means for supplying pressure fluid to said motor and said latch releasing means for actuating said latch device and said door.

7. In combination with a rebox having a backwall provided with a redoor opening therethrough, a stoker discharge conduit attached to said backwall, said discharge conduit terminating in a mouth portion adjacent the lower marginal edge of said opening, a vertically sliding door for said opening, said door forming a roof or hood for said discharge conduit mouth portion, fluid pressure operated means for opening said door, a latch device engaging said door, said latch device comprising a slidable plate engaging said door, mechanism for releasing said latch device, said mechanism comprising a stern engaging said slidable plate, said stem being movable transversely with'respect to said plate, a pressure uid cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, said piston being connected with said stem, and means for supplying pressure fluid to said cylinder for irnparting motion to saidpiston therein.

8. In combination with a furnace having a backwall provided with a redoor opening therethrough, a Stoker discharge conduit terminating at its delivery end in an open mouth portion adjacent the lower marginal edge of said opening, a closure for said redoor opening including a vertically sliding sectional firedoor forming a roof or hood for said stoker discharge conduit, said redoor comprising a main body member and an auxiliary section hinged to and depending from said main body member, said member and said section together forming a rearwardly flaring portion of said sectional redoor, said auxiliary section being arranged to be raised to t over the lower portion of said main body member, and means operatively connected to said main body member for sliding said redoor upwardly as a unit substantially parallel with said backwall to uncover said firing opening.

9. In combination with a furnace having a backhead provided with a firedoor opening therejacent the lower marginal edge of said opening, a closure for said redoor opening including a vertically sliding firedoor composed of sections forming a roof or hood for said stoker discharge conduit, and means operatively connected to one of said sections for sliding said sectional redoor upwardly as a unit substantially parallel with said backhead to partially uncover said opening, the other of said flredoor sections being movable independently of the remainder of said sectional firedoor to further uncover said opening.

10. In combination with a furnace having a backwall provided with a ring opening therethrough, a Stoker discharge conduit terminating at: its delivery:endirranfopenamouth portion adjacent the lowermarginal edge of said: opening, a. closure for saidl redoorf opening including a vertically sliding firedooncomposed of' sections forming a roof or hood; for said stoker discharge conduit, means. operatively.V connected to one of said sections for sliding said sectional flredoor upwardly as a unitl substantially parallel with said backwall to partiallyT uncover said opening, the other of saidi firedoonsectionsbeing movable independently of theremainder of said sectional redoor to further uncover said opening, and means for locking said independently movable section with the remainder of said sectional door in any one of a number of positions.

11. In comb-ination` with a furnacev having a backwall provided with a firing opening therethrough, a Stoker discharge conduit terminating at its delivery endinan open mouth portion adjacent the lower marginal edge of said opening, a closure for said redoor opening including a vertically sliding sectional iiredoor forming a roof or hood for said' stokerdischarge conduit, said sectional flredoor comprising-amain body member and an auxiliary section:` hinged to and depending from the lower portion of said main body member, said auxiliary-section and the lower portion of said mainbodymember being substantially quadrant-like in vertical longitudinal section, and means operatively` connected to one of said sections for sliding said' sectional flredoor upwardly as a unit substantially parallel With said backwall toV partially uncover said opening, said hinged auxiliary section being movable independently of the main body member to further uncover saidl opening.l

l2. In a redoor apparatus, the combination of a vertically sliding door, means for opening said door comprising a cylinder and a piston in said cylinder operatively connected to said door, a latch engaging said door, means for releasing said latch, said means comprising a cylinder and a piston in said cylinder connected to said latch, means for supplying pressure fluid to said last named cylinder for operating said last named piston and means for conducting pressure fluid from said last named cylinder to said rst named cylinder for operating said first named piston.

13. In a iiredoor apparatus, the combination of a vertically sliding door, means for opening said door comprising a cylinder and a piston in said cylinder operatively connected to said door, a latch engaging said door, means for releasing said latch, said means comprising a cylinder and a piston in said cylinder connected to said latch, a supply line for delivering pressure fluid to said cylinders and a control valve in said line.

14. In a firedoor apparatus, the combination of a door, means for opening said door comprising a pressure uid cylinder and a piston therein operatively connected to said door, a latch device for engaging and releasing said door, means for releasing said latch device comprising a pressure fluid cylinder and a piston therein operatively connected to said latch device, mechanical means for moving said last named piston in one direction for engaging said latch device with said door, and means for supplying pressure iluid to both said cylinders for moving said second named piston in the opposite direction for releasing said latch device from said door and for actuating the rst named piston.

15. In a fire door apparatus, the combination of a door, means for opening said door comprising a pressure fluid cylinder and a piston therein operatively connected to said door, a latch device for engaging and releasing said door, means for releasing said latch device comprising a pressure fluid cylinder and a piston therein operatively connected to said latch device, a pressure fluid line connecting said cylinders, means for moving said last named piston in one direction for engaging said latch device with said door, a pressure iiuid supply line communicating with said second named cylinder supplying pressure fluid for moving said last named piston in the opposite direction for releasing said latch device from said door, said piston in said last named position permitting pressure fluid to pass from said last named cylinder to said first named cylinder for actuating the piston therein, said piston in turn opening said door.

16. In a redoor apparatus, the combination of a vertically sliding door, fluid pressure operated means for opening said door, a pipe line for delivering fluid under pressure to said door opening means from a source of supply, a latch device engaging said door, fluid pressure operated means for disengaging said latch interposed in said pipe line between said door opening means and said source of fluid supply, said latch disengaging means being arranged to cut ofi the supply of iiuid to said door opening means when said latch device is in engagement with said door and to supply uid to said door opening means when said latch device is disengaged from said door.

17. In combination with a reboX having a wall provided with a firing opening therethrough, a Stoker discharge conduit attached to said wall, said discharge conduit terminating at its delivery end in an open mouth portion adjacent the lower marginal edge of said firing opening, a door for said opening forming a roof for said discharge conduit, iiuid pressure operated means forY opening said door, a'latch device engaging said door, fluid pressure operated means for disengaging said latch device, said last named means being arranged to coordinate the operation of said door and said latch device.

18. In a firedoor apparatus, the combination of a door, fiuid pressure operated means for opening said door, a latch device engaging -said door, fluid pressure operated means for releasing said latchv device, and a control valve for supplying pressure iiuid to said door opening means and latch device releasing means.

19. In combination with a flrebox having a rbackwall provided with a flredoor opening therethrough, a stoker discharge conduit attached to said backwall, said discharge conduit terminating at its delivery end in an open mouth portion adjacent the lower marginal edge of said opening, a movable door for said iiring opening forming a discharge outlet for said Stoker discharge conduit, means for opening said door, means for controlling said door opening means, a latch device engaging said door, and means for releasing said latch device, said last named means being operable by said door opening control means.

20. In combination with a firebox having a backwall provided with a firedoor opening therethrough, a stoker discharge conduit attached to said backwall, said discharge conduit terminating in an open mouth portion adjacent the lower marginal edge of said opening, a door for said opening, said door forming a discharge outlet for said'stoker discharge conduit, a fluid pressure operated motor for opening said door, means for supplying pressure fluid to said motor, a latch device engaging said door, and means for releasing said latch device, said last named means being operable by said pressure fluid supplying means.

E. ARCHER TURNER. 

